Peer Group Assignments

Maze's Views From Inside The Middle East 

1. Producer: Maze (Individual, Research Analyst)

2. Maze uses his blog to inform and respond on various Middle Eastern politics. He provides lengthy interviews of actual politicians and events, but then adding his take on the whole matter. Maze tends to be neutral in all his commentaries, especially in not favoring neither the Jews or Arabs. He keeps an open mind and puts in valuable solutions on how to address the issues while still striving for peace.

3. His link to his profile page was not as informative as I would have expected. All he provides is his name, Maze, which could be his first, last, or fake name. Last 2 solid details about Maze is that he reports from Tel Aviv, Israel and he's been blogging since 2005.

4. From the looks of Maze's past blog posts he seems to be quite active and current on his news reporting. I do see however that his flow of posting events stops in August. 

5 & 6. I put these two questions together because Maze's main issue is that his blog lacks an easy way for readers to vent or place their opinions. He has no connection to Twitter nor an established Facebook page.  

Matt Duss' Middle East Progress

1. Producer: Organization (Center for American Progress) 

Matthew Duss: Policy Analyst

2. From what I read, Matt seems to have the exact line of philosophy I want to enforce in my blog concerning the Middle East and American affairs. He often talks about the Israel and Palestine issue and even better brings up our damaged relations with Iran and how to make it better. He's an open book as blunt as can be. He's constantly referencing others and doesn't fail to give his assertive opinion on how America should proceed to handle any situation dealing with the Middle East. Mr. Duss is nowhere neutral and very one sided, but still open minded, intelligent, and ambitious for peace on both ends.

3. The initiative behind this blog is to promote peaceful relations with the Middle East. The blog is partnered up with two big time companies aimed to aid the Middle East, such as: "Clinton Global Initiative" and "M.E. Investment Initiative". Their clean mission is to spread democracy and mend relations peacefully. 

4. This blog has been very active monthly. The excerpts are long and 3 can be found in one month; however this blog, like the previous, has been inactive since Jan 2012. Nothing new has been posted and I wonder if that's linked to minimized riots or censorship?

5. This site provides juicy debates but lacks engagement from its readers because there is no way for readers to reply. The most one can do is email the author but that's boring. They failed at the whole idea of a debate, but they are posting great arguments like, "Should we attack Iran?" What a hot topic to put out there!

6. No Twitter or Facebook.

Timeline: US-Iran Ties 

1. BBC News

2. This Website is amazing because it highlights the important dates in history where the US and Iran began to crumble. It's a great reference to history and a good way of understanding where Iran's government gets all this resentment and rebelliousness from.

3. BBC News is a trustworthy neutral broadcaster and the only motive for such an article would be to inform. 

4. Since this was a simple article, it has been published and hasn't been modified since.

5. The article was strictly informative so there were no debates or room for commentaries.

6. This website did include social media apps that could connect you further into the article such as Facebook, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

The Race for Iran

1. Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett (Individuals)

2. My favorite blog so far because it includes a little bit of everything I want to talk about. They include relations with Israel and Iran. It's history with the two and how we can maneuver into a balanced relationship. They provide current events and Obama's take on things making it one big collaboration to the Middle East. Yes the authors are biased for peace not war.

3. Their intention for making the blog is unclear because they lack a place that describes who they are as writers, but I can only imagine how hot the topic of U.S. relations with the Middle East is to anyone worried about America's future welfare. 

4. Last post was in September 2012, but prior to that I see that they were posting weekly.

5. This website was amazing because it shows you all the comments that random readers have left over time. There are actual debates and discussions over the content. I read people's views for Iranian democracy and it varies 50/50. Shocking!

6. Very modern and useful blog. Only blog I've encountered tonight with actual pictures and video clips! Completely connected to Facebook and Twitter.